The Parole Board of Canada says it’s now working to permit victims’ households to attend Paul Bernardo’s parole listening to and ship their sufferer affect statements in particular person.
A lawyer representing the households of two teenage women murdered by infamous killer and serial rapist Paul Bernardo mentioned that they had been denied the fitting to ship their statements in particular person at Bernardo’s upcoming parole listening to. The difficulty was raised by Conservative Chief Pierre Poilievre throughout query interval within the Home of Commons Wednesday.
Nevertheless, in an announcement late Wednesday, the parole board says it’s now “presently working to accommodate the in-person presentation of statements by victims” who want to seem on the Nov. 26 listening to.
In a letter despatched to the Parole Board of Canada chairperson and others, lawyer Tim Danson had mentioned he was just lately knowledgeable the victims’ households wouldn’t be capable to attend the listening to on the medium-security La Macaza Establishment in Quebec as a result of the board was “unable to make sure security and safety of all listening to attendees.”
Danson had mentioned the households demanded the listening to be adjourned to subsequent month or another date in order that they and their attorneys can journey to La Macaza and browse their sufferer affect statements in particular person.
In its assertion, the parole board mentioned it takes a variety of things into consideration when scheduling hearings, together with the board’s “skill to accommodate all observers in an institutional listening to room, to make sure the secure proximity of all attendees through the listening to, or operational issues reminiscent of listening to administration.”
It mentioned it “makes each effort to accommodate a sufferer’s requested methodology of attendance.” The assertion added that every one victims’ statements carry the identical weight, whether or not they’re delivered in particular person or not, and famous that the majority of its hearings are held nearly.
Bernardo was transferred from the maximum-security Millhaven Establishment in Ontario to the medium-security La Macaza final 12 months, a call that prompted public outcry.
Bernardo, who’s designated as a harmful offender, is serving an indeterminate life sentence for the kidnapping, sexual assault and homicide of 15-year-old Kristen French and 14-year-old Leslie Mahaffy within the early Nineties close to St. Catharines, Ont.
He was additionally convicted of manslaughter within the December 1990 loss of life of his then-wife Karla Homolka’s 15-year-old sister, Tammy.
In an announcement, a spokesperson for federal Public Security Minister Dominic LeBlanc mentioned the Parole Board, as a quasi-judicial physique, makes its choices independently.
“Our hearts exit to the households of the victims, who proceed to stay with the trauma attributable to this particular person’s abominable crimes,” LeBlanc’s press secretary Gabriel Brunet wrote.
Talking to reporters on Parliament Hill on Wednesday morning, Conservative MP Frank Caputo mentioned the choice to disclaim the households the fitting to attend was “so mistaken on so many ranges.”
“Why is it that the security and safety of the jail on this occasion is stopping folks from exercising their rights below the Victims Invoice of Rights?” mentioned Caputo, one of many get together’s critics for justice and public security.
The federal ombudsperson for victims of crime, Benjamin Roebuck, mentioned in an announcement that victims’ preferences about attending a listening to in particular person or nearly are taken under consideration, however not assured.
“Parole hearings occur inside extremely secured environments, so if there are particular security or safety considerations which were used to find out the format of a listening to, they need to be clearly defined,” Roebuck mentioned.
This report by The Canadian Press was first printed Nov. 20, 2024.
The Canadian Press
